Individuals often desire to get in better shape, improve their general fitness and muscle tone but often fail to start or continue an exercise routine for a significant period of time. People of all ages want to get rid of flabby arms, reduce their stomach size, lose weight, replace fat tissue with muscle or increase muscle size.
A desire for fitness improvement and the common failure to successfully do something about it is not new and has frustrated and discouraged millions year after year. Many surveys state the number one reason people don't exercise regularly is time followed closely by convenience.
Some people cannot afford a fitness membership or are too embarrassed to workout in front of other people. Many often join a fitness center, however do not have the time or are too inconvenienced to regularly change, drive to the fitness center, workout on multiple machines, shower and return home.
The working person also often does not have time or is too inconvenienced to change clothes, drive to the fitness center, workout and shower and then return to work during their allotted lunch or break time or even to do so after work.
Travelers, either for business or pleasure, staying at a hotel after a long demanding day away from home, often fail to find time to go to the hotel exercise room for a workout as planned.
Even if individuals who have bought an exercise device for the home, by the time they get home, they are usually either too tired or distracted by the TV, family or other needs often fail to stay on a disciplined fitness schedule.
Also individuals confined to a bed, wheel chair or other seated assistance device are extremely limited in finding an affordable, functional and comfortable exercise device to perform needed strengthening, stretching or physical therapy exercises while sitting or lying down.
Many of standard exercise equipment products today are prohibitively large, heavy, cumbersome, not portable and too expensive for home and office work space use.
The portable exercise devices currently existing on the market are not designed or flexible enough to use with a variety of chairs, couches, beds or on the floor. The current portable exercise devices also do not have the functionality to be used for seated, lying and standing exercises.
There are many elastic resistance tubes or bands are on the market today, but the exercises with them are designed for placing the tube or band under the persons foot, attaching to a door or to be used in a standing or kneeling position, not comfortably on a sitting or lying means.
The prior art includes some devices for chairs but many require the device's body to be attached to the chairs limiting the portability and the types of chairs they can be used on.
Much of the prior art for exercise devices include many numerous and/or complex parts, often of a mechanical nature, that limit the ability of manufacturing and selling the inventions at an affordable price
The portable devices of the prior art also seem to not provide a range of exercise options or do not allow for upper body, abdominal and leg exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,162,809 to Eastwood (2012) describes a portable exercise device with resistance members. The device has primarily a seat base member only and therefore is limited in the exercise options (e.g. chest press, abdominal crunches, leg squats). Also the device does not provide the option for standing or leg exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,897 to Gilbert and Dewsnap (1999) describes a relatively rigid molded thermoplastic sheet seat member, which is also limited in terms of the variety of exercises that can be performed with the device and is limited to certain types of sitting arrangements. Also the device does not provide the option for standing or leg exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,104 to Rich (2002) describes a device requiring a rigid frame, designed for attachment to vehicle seat. The device is limited to certain types of sitting arrangements, is not intentioned for use with lying means and would require specific manufacturing of the rigid frame and special base member/cushion(s). Also the device does not provide the option for standing or leg exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,056 to Cataldi and Hagen (2000) describes a seat cushion that must be strapped around a chair. A seat cushion is provided, and D-rings are included generally on the strap portion for attachment of elastic members. This device is limited to certain types of sitting arrangements and variety of exercises that can be performed (i.e. not chest press or abdomen exercises). Also the device does not provide the option for standing or leg exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,168 to Bowser (2008) describes an exercise device with a support structure, chair, anchor modules and special resistance cables. This device has many rigid and specialized parts which would require specific manufacturing and is not portable.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,935 to Clarke and Wilson-Clarke (2004) describes an exercise kit witch attaches to an office chair. This device is limited to certain types of sitting arrangements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,445 to Rovinsky and Zborovsky (1998) describes an exercise device with a rigid frame and is mountable on a column of a chair. This device has many rigid and specialized parts which would require specific and expensive manufacturing, is very limited to specific seating means and is not portable.